


we'll be a fine line (an mlb one shot)

by thirteen_beaches



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Costume Parties & Masquerades, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Identity Reveal, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Light Angst, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Masks, School Dances, Yeah idk either, also its super long so, its a school dance fic cuz of course, its my first mlb fic please be kind, sorry - Freeform, sorta kinda works with canon but also does not work with canon at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:54:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24914959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thirteen_beaches/pseuds/thirteen_beaches
Summary: it's just a school dance with a masquerade theme. it should be a normal enough event. but this particular school dance may have given marinette more than what she had bargained.and maybe that's the best thing that could happen.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 15
Kudos: 228





	we'll be a fine line (an mlb one shot)

“Come on, girl, you have to come to the dance!” Alya said, resting her head on her hand. Marinette sighed, capping her pen as she closed her notebook.

“I don’t know Alya,” Marinette said quietly, shrugging. “I don’t really feel like going. Besides, I do not want to third wheel around you and Nino,” they added, rolling her eyes.

“You won’t third wheel if you also have a wheel with you,” Alya said suggestively, glancing at the desk in front of her. “If you get where I’m going with this.”

Marinette looked into her notebook, not even following Alya’s line of vision. They didn’t need to, already knowing where they landed. “I told you Alya. I’m not going down that road again,” she muttered quietly, her voice losing a bit of the spark it always carried. “You know that I’m trying to move on from that, there’s nothing there.”

“I get the 'moving on' part, but not the ‘there’s nothing there’ part,” Alya said softly, placing her hand on her best friend’s, squeezing it. “You don’t know about that part.”

Marinette sighed, patting Alya’s hand before pulling away. “I know enough. I’m not the one he loves,” they said almost sadly. “And that’s okay. His friendship means a lot to me.”

Alya sighed, nodding. “If you say so.”

Glancing through the corner of her peripheral vision to see Alya turn away, Marinette lifted her head a bit, sneaking a glance at the boy in front of her, the one who had taken her heart captive that rainy day months ago. He was laughing with Nino about something, the sound tugging her heart cruelly. But she forced herself to look back into her notebook, sighing quietly. _He didn’t love, or even like her as more than a friend. And she said she was okay with it to everyone who asked. And she was, but that didn’t stop it from hurting like hell._ In an attempt to distract herself, she pulled out her sketchbook, idly sketching out a dress design. _Not that she was going to wear it to the dance. She didn’t even know if she was going._

*

Still laughing about what Nino had said, Adrien turned around, having felt Marinette looking at him. But her head was buried in her sketchbook, like she was actively trying to withdraw from everything around her. He frowned slightly, facing back ahead. _Why was he almost disappointed she wasn’t looking at him?_

“Dude,” Nino said, tapping his shoulder, pulling Adrien out of his head. “You okay?”

“Oh yeah,” he said, smiling politely. “Just,” he said, dropping his voice, leaning in to talk to Nino. “Does Marinette seem okay to you?”

“Uh,” Nino muttered, turning around to look at Marinette, who had glanced up at that exact moment. The two saluted each other with dead serious faces (a weird inside joke they had started) and laughed, both looking away again. “Yeah, she seems alright. Why?”

“Nothing, it just,” he muttered, glancing back at the girl. She was scribbling away in her sketchbook, eyebrows knitted together in concentration, her nose scrunched up in that cute way it would when she was working-

_Wait. Cute?!_

“Just?” Nino prodded, staring at Adrien, amused by the other boy’s change of expressions, fully reflecting his thoughts.

“Uh,” Adrien whispered, shaking his head, trying to regain focus. “N-Nothing, it's just, I feel like she’s acting weird around me.”

Nino stared at Adrien for a second before bursting out in laughter. “Congratulations dude,” he said, shaking his head. “You are officially the last person to notice this.”

“What? No!” Adrien said, sputtering. “I mean, I know she used to be so flustered around me, and like, every time she saw me she would just run away,” Adrien said, smiling softly at how hilarious it was when she did that. “But then, we settled into this friendly pace and that was awesome. But now,” he said, his smile fading. “It’s like she actively avoids me, and looks away. Like, did I do something wrong?”

“Marinette? Avoiding you? Doesn’t sound right,” Nino said, leaning against his hand. “Though I can’t say that she hasn’t been acting distant lately,” he muttered, and Adrien nodded.

“So you’ve noticed it too, right?” he asked quickly. Nino pursed his lips together, before turning around and tapping Alya’s textbook, drawing his girlfriend’s attention.

“What do you want?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. Nino narrowed his eyes, indicating her to lean in closer, which she did, albeit eyes full of suspicion. “Okay this feels way too conspiratorial,” she added with a dramatic whisper.

Marinette, who had noticed the growing huddle of whispers, raised an eyebrow at the three. “If it’s about my birthday, I want that new video game we were talking about,” she said confidently, turning back to her sketchbook.

“Als, you’ve noticed Marinette act more distant than usual too, right?” Nino whispered, Adrien leaning in to listen to the conversation.

Alya looked back at Marinette, biting her lip before nodding. “Not with me as much, but generally, yeah. I’m starting to worry about her, especially some things she’s saying. That’s why I’m trying to convince her to come to the dance with us.”

“She isn’t planning on coming?” Adrien cut in, glancing at Marinette, who was now chewing the back of her pencil, deeply focused.

Alya shook her head, looking at Nino. “Why? What’s with all these questions about Mari?” she asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at Adrien.

“Oh,” Nino said, chuckling softly. “Adrien thinks she’s been avoiding him specifically,” he said, ignoring Adrien’s glare. “Crazy right?”

Nino expected Alya to laugh at that, adding to it with her own quips that everyone except Adrien could see were hinting to Marinette’s feelings. But when Alya’s smile faltered, and she leaned back a bit, eyes flitting away, Nino knew something was off.

“Oh,” Nino whispered, realisation seeping in as Alya looked at him, and he sank back into his seat. Adrien saw this, and his confusion just grew more. Why were all his friends acting weird?

“Guys?” he said, making the two look at him. “What is it? Is she actually avoiding me?” he asked, and he felt his heart drop into a pit, the girl who was currently causing all this confusion seated in the corner of his vision.

Before Alya or Nino could say anything, Ms Bustier walked into the class, calling Max to the front of the class.

“Students,” she began. “The student council has decided on a theme for the dance.” At that, everyone looked slightly more interested than normal. Rose and Juleka smiled at each other, Rose resting her head on Juleka’s shoulder. Mylene tapped Ivan’s shoulder, smiling softly. Marinette set down her pencil, looking at Ms Bustier, trying to listen. She may not be completely sold on going to the dance, but she also knew it would be busy if she would take dress commissions, and knowing the theme could be a bonus.

Ms Bustier continued, “This year’s dance will be a masquerade!” she announced, and immediately everyone in the class was abuzz with excitement. Everyone began to discuss possible ideas amongst themselves. But before the discussion could go any further, Ms Bustier clapped her hands, calling for everyone’s attention again. “But, we’ve decided to do something that might be more interesting. With the help of Max and Markov, everyone will be given a different person or character after whom you should base your mask and outfit. The idea being, no one knows who anyone else is going as, leading to what is close to a true masquerade.”

The class was quiet for a minute, processing everything, before once again erupting in excitement, despite some loud protests from Chloe. Alya grabbed onto Marinette’s arm, a smile on her face.

“You still sure about not coming to the dance?” she asked her best friend, who was now rolling her eyes.

“Okay, okay, I’ll admit I’m more interested now,” Marinette said, looking ahead.

Adrien and Nino turned around to look at the two behind them. “Well babe,” Nino said with a goofy smile. “Looks like it’ll be up to fate whether we find each other at this dance,” he said, and Alya rolled her eyes, laughing loudly.

“Why am I with you, I really wonder,” she muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. Marinette laughed, rubbing Alya’s back sympathetically.

Adrien turned to look at Marinette, a shy smile on his face as he scratched the back of his neck. Seeing him that way, Marinette couldn’t help but feel her cheeks grow warmer, despite wanting to keep completely calm.

“Well Marinette, whatever you go as, I’m sure you’ll look paw-some,” he said quietly.

Marinette giggled softly, leaning forward. “Well, I don’t know about that, we don’t even have our people yet and,” she stopped short, leaning back, eyes wide as what he had said completely sank in. “Did, did you just make a cat pun right now?” she asked quietly, sucking in her breath.

Adrien’s eyes shot wide as he understood what he had just done. _He had just slipped into Chat Noir mood except without any of the smooth-talking Chat Noir had. Because Adrien didn’t make bad cat puns (even though he definitely thought he would make some ‘meow’-velous ones)._

“Uh, no, well yeah but- I was just trying something,” Adrien muttered quickly, eyes darting around.

Marinette just narrowed her eyes, nodding slowly. “Sure,” she said quietly, unnerved by the stammering now coming from the boy in front of her. _That was strange, it was like they switched personalities for a second there._ Then, she smirked playfully. “Cuz that pun was truly ‘cat’astrophic!” she said teasingly, winking at Adrien.

Alya groaned, hitting her head on the desk. Nino just laughed, giving Marinette a high five. But Adrien just stared at her, cheeks flushed as his heart raced, and all he could think was, _I love that girl._

_Wait. LOVE?!_

What his brain had just said to him made Adrien start, turning back ahead, eyes wide as he took a deep breath. _He, he couldn’t love Marinette! He loved Ladybug. Or, he used to. He had been trying to move on after all. But Marinette? She was just a fr-_

_Just a frie-_

_A fr-_

_Why couldn’t he say it? Why couldn’t he say ‘Marinette is just a frie-‘_

_Oh fuck._

Adrien gasped, sitting up straight. _Marinette wasn’t just a friend. She never had been. But, because he had been so blinded by Ladybug’s light, he had never noticed the girl right behind him, just as amazing, brave, strong, sweet, and kind as her. And he had been falling all this while._

Marinette, on the other hand, went back to listening to Max and Markov, who said that everyone should be getting an email with their allotted person by the end of the lesson and that they couldn’t tell anyone else. Alya was looking at her, a sly smile on her face, and finally, Marinette sighed, looking at her best friend.

“What is it, Alya?” she asked, leaning on her hand.

“So much for moving on, huh?” Alya said, nodding at Adrien. “Don’t think I didn’t notice your little exchange there.”

Marinette sighed, ignoring her cheeks growing warm. “I told you Alya. There’s nothing there. We’re just being friendly,” she muttered, looking into her iPad.

Alya shrugged, looking ahead, clearly unimpressed. “Whatever you say, babe.”

*

“Okay, everyone should have gotten their names by now, so good luck for the dance!” Ms Bustier said, before leaving the classroom.

Marinette sighed, opening up her email, before yelping, dropping her iPad in shock. The name in her email burned into her vision, and her panic bubbled up, threatening to consume her.

_**Ladybug.** _

What she wasn’t expecting was a similar reaction from the boy sitting in front of her, who clutched the iPad closer to him. The two of them glanced at each other, before immediately looking away.

“What’s wrong guys?” Alix asked, staring at the two. “You okay there?”

“Uh! Yeah! I just, can I swap names with someone? I don’t think I can do this one, you know, yeah,” Marinette stammered, feeling that familiar nervousness take over her speech. “I don’t think I'd be able to do it justice, plus, I don’t know I don’t think I’d be as inspired,” she continued rambling, desperately trying to justify her immediate knee-jerk reaction to her name.

“Uh, same here! I don’t, not feeling the name here, yeah,” Adrien added, trying to help Marinette out, while also trying to justify his emotions. His eyes lit up and he turned to Marinette, slightly flustered. “Maybe we can swap names!”

Marinette sat up excitedly, feeling like she had somehow been blessed with a solution. “Yes! That’s a great idea!” she said, about to show Adrien the name before Max grabbed her iPad and set it firmly on her desk.

“No! No swapping!” he said, before sighing. “Because then, you’d know what the other person is going as. And that ruins the whole thing!”

Marinette groaned, hitting her head on the desk. “Why does the universe hate me?” she mumbled, and Alya snorted, patting her dramatic best friend’s head.

“It’s okay, Marinette! I know you will wear something absolutely beautiful!” Rose said brightly, hugging Marinette, pulling her upright. Alix smiled too, pumping their fist.

“For real, if anyone here can make anything fashionable, its Marinette!” Alix said, and everyone around agreed loudly.

Marinette glanced at Adrien sympathetically. “Sure you’ll be okay with your name then?” she asked quietly, remembering how he had reacted in such a similar manner.

Adrien laughed quietly, reaching to grab and squeeze her hand against his better judgement. “Only if you’ll be okay,” he said, quickly before turning back ahead, his sudden realisation still clouding his judgement.

On his iPad, clutched against his chest, was the email, with the name _**Chat Noir**_ staring back at him.

What could possibly go right?

*

The dance was, actually, going pretty well. Considering the whole ‘Paris is being terrorised by a supervillain’ situation, at least.

Marinette walked into the auditorium, pulling at the sleeves of her dress. She had done everything to try and both honour her Ladybug outfit with her dress, while also dispelling any way she could be recognised as the hero herself. But, after a lot of all-nighters, meltdowns with Tikki, and a healthy dose of being poked with needles, she had to say, she was proud of her outfit.

Instead of going for a gown, Marinette decided to wear a backless red top, with ribbons crisscrossing at the back, and elbow-length sleeves. This she paired with a black skirt, embellished with a red net covered with black spots, bringing out the ‘Ladybug’ aspect. The mask was a tough obstacle, since wearing a normal Ladybug mask would be a dead giveaway to her identity. So, Marinette had changed the shape considerably, making it closer to a party mask, complete with feathers and jewels. As an added precaution, she had decided to leave her hair open. Ladybug was known for her signature pigtails, so might as well try and look as far off from that image as possible.

It wasn’t perfect, Marinette thought ruefully as she headed over to the table with the punch. No matter how many times she looked at herself in the mirror, all she saw was Ladybug staring back at her.

_But was that because she **knew** she was Ladybug, or because she actually looked like Ladybug? _Her mind pressed on, and she groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose, taking a sip of punch to try and calm herself. It didn’t help that the party was loud, and since no one was telling each other who they were coming as, Marinette had no idea where any of her friends were. Though, if she were to hazard a guess, she would probably gravitate towards the red-haired, spectacled ‘Jagged Stone’ typing furiously into her phone while a ‘Ninja Turtle’ stood by, talking animatedly to the DJ of the dance. But, she was held back by the tiny fear that if she went there, Alya would recognise her, and her identity would be revealed, and everything would fall apart right in front of her and-

“Well then, I guess we run into each other again, milady,” A voice spoke up behind her, and Marinette’s eyes went wide, recognising the voice while also having her worst fear realised – someone had recognised her.

“What?” she said, turning around and gasping. Standing in front of her, in a perfectly tailored three-piece suit was, Chat Noir?!

It had to be, the voice definitely sounded like his ‘trying to be suave’, flirty and confident voice he used every time they battled an akuma. And the blonde hair, green eyes and black mask covering his face contributed to the familiarity. Not to mention the cat ears, and the bowtie with a bell tied on, for the full Chat Noir effect. But, hadn’t she reasoned out that Chat didn’t go to Francois Dupont? And if he did- oh no, this was bad. There weren’t that many students to begin with, let alone blonde-haired students with green eyes-

Seeing her spiral in her mind, the boy in front of her spoke up quickly. “I-Isn’t that what he calls her? Chat Noir?” he said quickly, his voice growing timider, not Chat-like, and Marinette looked up, cocking her head to the side in confusion. “I’ve just heard Chat Noir call Ladybug ‘milady’, and I saw that you were dressed like Ladybug, so I just thought,” he continued, looking away, scratching the back of his neck nervously. “Nevermind, it was stupid.”

Marinette wanted to sigh in relief at that. _So, he didn’t recognise me, nor is he Chat Noir. He was just trying to act like it cuz he saw I’m dressed as Ladybug._ But seeing the disappointment and shame on his face, she reached out and grabbed his wrist, causing him to turn back. “N-No! It’s okay!” she said, smiling softly. “You just caught me off-guard, that’s all,” she explained with a short laugh, her cheeks warm.

The boy looked down at where Marinette had grabbed his wrist, cheeks flushed, before laughing quietly. “Oh, that’s good. I thought I was gonna scare you off,” he said with a shy smile. “Who are you, then?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Marinette smirked, feeling a burst of confidence in her as she reached ahead, flicking the bell attached to ‘Chat’s’ bowtie. “Wouldn’t like to know, ‘Kitty’?” she teased, turning to walk away from the table.

However, before she could get lost in the crowd, she felt fingers wrap gently around her wrist, pulling her back. She turned around with an amused smile at the boy, who was grinning at her.

“Well, if the lady won’t tell me her name, would she consider a dance?” he said, and Marinette wanted to laugh, the way he spoke reminding her so much of her black leather-clad partner. The thought almost filled her with wistful sadness, thinking about the two green-eyed, blonde-hair boys she was trying to distance herself from. And here was one more, coming in to probably ruin her life.

But, to be fair, he was just asking for one dance. So she smiled, grabbing his hand. “Alright, kitty. Let’s see if you can dance.”

*

_This was bad. This was really, really bad._

Now, it wasn’t like the dance was bad. Quite the opposite actually. Their first dance was awkward for a bit, a lot of toes stepped on, followed by embarrassed apologies. Marinette was almost waiting for the song to be over so she could hide her face in the punch bowl and not look her dance partner in the eye. But he had seemed to notice this, and cracked a terrible pun, immediately eliciting a mixture between a groan and a laugh from her. Just like that, the awkwardness fell apart, giving way to banter and even flirting between Marinette and the other boy. By their fourth dance together, they had fallen into a playful, almost competitive manner. _Too close to how it was with her actual feline partner,_ Marinette’s mind threatened, but she used all her force to push it away. But then again, when did luck ever come to her side when she wasn’t transformed?

The fifth dance had been where it all went wrong. It had been a slow song, of course, it had. ‘Chat’ had looked at her, eyebrows quirked, hand outstretched. Marinette had stood there, arms crossed as she rolled her eyes.

“Don’t you have other girls to sweep across the dance floor?” she had asked with a smirk. But the boy had just winked at her (and Marinette swore that for a second she was on a rooftop after an akuma battle, the real Chat Noir standing in front of her as he winked at her before leaving).

“But none of them are you, M’lady,” he had replied suavely. There was only one thing Marinette could use to pull her mind back into her body, to remind herself that this was just a boy from her school in a costume who was acting like this because of her Ladybug look. And it was the fact that every flirty remark was coloured with innocent nervousness, very un-Chat like.

The song played on, Marinette held close against the boy, and the warmth made her smile giddily. The rosy memory of when she had danced with Adrien at Chloe’s party all those months ago flashed in her mind, and she giggled softly. _That felt like a lifetime ago._

“What’s so funny, bugaboo?” she heard in her ear, and she looked up with a soft smile at ‘Chat’, shaking her head slightly, still lost in the memory and music.

“Just a memory,” she started, rolling her eyes, ready to rest her head on his shoulder again. But what he had just said finally fully registered, and she pulled away, staring at him, heart racing. “What did you just call me?”

The boy blinked back in confusion, tilting his head. _God, how did she not see the similarities, they even had the same mannerisms._ “Bugaboo?” he said softly, before his eyes going wide, realising what he had just said. “I, I mean, doesn’t he also call her that? Like in that interview? He called her that and she teased him about it,” he reasoned out, laughing nervously. His hands were still lightly gripping her waist, Marinette’s hands still on his shoulders. She looked away, breathing heavily, her mind racing a mile a minute, but she couldn’t bring herself to move.

“Yeah,” she whispered, and she heard him sigh quietly, almost relieved. But she looked up at him, fear in her eyes. But some part of Marinette knew her suspicion wasn’t just that anymore. It may as well be a fact if the next part went the way she thought it would.

“But that was the only time he called her that in public, months ago,” she said quietly, looking up at the boy- no, no. Looking up at Chat. “No one else would have that nickname at the tip of their tongue, especially not at a random school dance with just some girl dressed like Ladybug,” she said, growing more and more sure with every word.

She saw a brief moment of panic flit through the boy’s eyes, before a shy smile lit up his face, and _damn_ if it didn’t make Marinette’s knees go weak at the sight, much against her will and better judgement. He laughed quietly, rubbing the back of his neck, making Marinette think of Adrien with how familiar that gesture seemed. _No, we already have one massive problem of a blonde-haired, green-eyed boy here, we don’t need another one, especially not that one,_ she scolded herself, trying to focus on keeping her breathing steady.

“Well, m’lady,” Chat said quietly, smiling softly. “Looks like the cat’s out of the bag, isn’t it?”

“Why are you still calling me milady’?” Marinette asked quickly, Chat gently guiding her in the dance as the song was still playing in the background. “That’s not very faithful to your crush, is it?”

Chat laughed softly, and the sound pulled at Marinette’s heart unfairly, it was already stretched thin as it was. “But I am still faithful to my lady, don’t you see?” he said, winking cheekily.

Marinette felt her cheeks heat up as Chat twirled her around, her heart lodged in her throat. _He couldn’t have figured her out, could he?_ “How come?” she asked, trying to play nonchalance.

But Chat just smirked, dipping her as he leaned dangerously close. Marinette found it hard to look away from those green eyes, but she felt fear and doubt creep into her heart, especially as Chat spoke.

“Because who else would know I only called you bugaboo once in public?” He whispered, leaning in to whisper it in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. He leaned back, and Marinette stared in his eyes, knowing the game was up.

Chat knew he had been dancing with Ladybug the whole school dance.

Chat Noir was at the school dance in the first place.

Chat Noir went to her school.

And worse, Chat Noir knew she was in the same school as him.

“Looks like we’ve been closer to each other than we thought, m’lady,” he said softly, pulling her upright. But all flirtiness and cheekiness had left him, replaced with nervousness and shy disposition. “Maybe we even know each other. How crazy is that, Bugaboo?” he asked shyly.

But Marinette didn’t know how to respond. Everything was racing through her mind at an intense speed. All she could do was stare at Chat, her mind involuntarily flipping through any boy near her age who fit his description. And only one answer made sense.

And it just had to be the other boy who had her heart in the conflicted mess it currently was.

_No, no it couldn’t be him, they had been in the same place at the same time-_

_So had Ladybug and Marinette but yet here she was._

_But, if it was him that meant-_

_Shit shit shit shit shit shit._

All the thoughts were spinning around Marinette’s head making her dizzy, her breathing growing heavier as she felt the panic in her bones. Chat was just looking at her worriedly, reaching out a hand to touch her arm.

“M’lady-” he began, but Marinette couldn’t look at Chat, at Adri-

_No, she couldn’t do this._

So, Marinette did the next best thing. She ran.

Marinette ran off to the bathroom, clutching her purse tightly until she locked herself in a stall. As she shut the door and sat down on the closed toilet seat, Tikki flew out of her purse, confused.

“Marinette, why did you leave the party? Didn’t you have fun?” she asked quietly, and Marinette sighed loudly, dropping her head into her hands.

“Because, Tikki, I can’t do this right now,” she mumbled quietly, her throat choking up. “I have so many responsibilities, as Marinette and as Ladybug. Everything’s so, heavy as it is, I can’t have any more problems in my life right now.”

“Marinette,” Tikki whispered, pressing a feather-light kiss to Marinette’s cheek. “Why would you be having problems? You were just dancing with a boy!”

“Not just any boy, Tikki! Didn’t you hear?” Marinette cried out, a choked sob escaping her lips. “He, he’s,” she stammered, taking a deep breath as Tikki looked at her knowingly. “It was Chat Noir. Here. At our school dance. And he also figured out that me, the girl he spent the last hour and a half dancing with, is Ladybug.”

Tikki just sighed, flying up to wipe the tear that was rolling down Marinette’s face. “Why are you so sad, Marinette?”

“This is a disaster, Tikki!” she sobbed, leaning back. “Our identities have to be a secret, if we know anything, it could compromise our safety! What if one of us got akumatised and we knew who the other was?” she said sharply, closing her eyes. Flashes of a flooded Paris and cold, blue eyes staring at her flashed in her mind, and Marinette gasped, taking a shaky breath. _Maybe those nightmares hadn’t left her just yet._ “Worse, while he was talking, my brain just couldn’t stop thinking for once in its life and there’s only one person in school it makes sense is Chat Noir,” she said quietly, shrinking into herself more.

“You figured out Chat Noir’s identity?” Tikki asked quietly, and Marinette hid her face more, but nodded slowly. “It’s okay, Marinette, you don’t have to be so worried,” she cooed, patting Marinette’s head.

“I think I’m just gonna go back home now, Tikki,” Marinette said softly, sighing. “Better now when no one notices than later.”

“If it makes you feel better, let’s go,” Tikki said happily, wiping the stray tears from her cheeks.

Marinette took a deep breath, adjusting her mask, before leaving the bathroom. She kept her head ducked down, avoiding eye contact as she tried to make her way to the exit. The crowd had increased at the dance floor as the end of the dance grew near, and everyone wanted to get in their last dances with their mystery partners, making it easier for her to navigate her way to the door. But just as she saw the exit in sight, she felt someone grab her elbow, and she sighed, squeezing her eyes shut before turning to face the person she was so desperately trying to avoid.

“Leaving without a goodbye?” Chat asked with a smirk, but seeing her pained expression, he grew serious, turning his hand to interlace their fingers together. “Is everything okay, milady? You ran away so suddenly.”

“You know damn well why I ran away, you silly cat,” Marinette snapped, looking up at Chat. He flinched away, and Marinette sighed, stepping closer to him, placing her other hand over his. “We aren’t supposed to know anything about each other, everything about our identity was supposed to be a secret. Now that we know we’re both in the same school, there isn’t much stopping us from knowing who the other is!”

“Is that so bad?” Chat said firmly and almost frustratedly. “Wouldn’t knowing who the other is help us be stronger?”

“I know, I know,” Marinette sighed, looking away. “But until Hawkmoth is defeated, it isn’t safe.”

Seeing the way Chat’s face fell, with the added fact that Marinette had more than a sneaking suspicion as to who was the boy under that mask, she felt a pit in her stomach, her heart dropping as all she wanted to do was drag him outside and rip off her mask, no more secrets between them. But she knew she couldn’t.

“Well, at least give me one last dance before you go,” he said ruefully, reaching out his hand.

Marinette looked at Chat, feeling her heart sink. _It wasn’t a good idea,_ she told herself. _She had the chance to leave and everything could just be forgotten._ But for some reason, Marinette smiled softly, taking his hand.

They went to the dance floor, Chat immediately placing his hands on her waist and pulling her close. Marinette wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning on his shoulder, eyes closed as they swayed to the music. If her eyes remained closed, Marinette could imagine they were just two kids, dancing at the school dance, no superheroes, no secret identities. Just the two of them. But she had to open her eyes at some point.

“You know,” Chat whispered, and Marinette instinctively held him tighter. “We could know each other,” he said. Marinette nodded into his shoulder, knowing that she should probably stop him from saying anything more, but at that second, she couldn’t bring herself to care. “We could be in the same class, and we would never even realise,” he said softly, one of his hands reaching up to run through her hair. “We may even be friends.”

“Imagine that,” Marinette whispered, trying to grasp onto the fading notes of the song, to hold onto those moments of peace before they had to go back into the real world.

The song ended, and Marinette pulled away, keeping her eyes down. She couldn’t look up at Chat. “I guess this is it then,” she said quietly.

She heard Chat sigh, his feet shifting. “And, I guess we shouldn’t mention this night at all?” he said, his voice close to breaking, and Marinette nodded quickly, before turning to walk away.

“Okay, can I have the attention of all the attendees today?” someone spoke into the microphone, and everyone on the crowd came onto the dance floor and crowded it, cutting off Marinette’s line to the door.

_What was going on? Why was there someone announcing stuff when the dance was ending?_

_Oh. Oh no. No no no it couldn’t be happening._

Marinette looked around frantically, trying to find the exit, but people were standing at the doors, shutting them, confirming her worst fears.

“No, no this can’t be happening,” Marinette began mumbling to herself as she pushed through the growing crowd, trying to find somewhere to hide until she could make her escape. But, everywhere she looked, people were milling about. Eventually, she just stopped looking for somewhere to hide, trying to find Alya or Nino, so if this was going where she thought it was going, at least it would just be with her friends, and she wouldn’t risk revealing her identity.

“Bugaboo?”

_She really had no good luck._

“So, now that the dance has come to an end, we will end this masquerade with the most traditional end possible, with everyone removing their masks and revealing who they are!” the teacher who was on stage announced, to the loud cheers of the crowd. “No person should keep their mask on after we are done counting down!”

“You shouldn’t be here right now,” Marinette said, her voice hinging on panic. “We have to remove our masks and we’ll find out who the other is!”

“ **10!** ”

“And we just talked about how dangerous that is,” Marinette said desperately, looking pleadingly at Chat.

“ **9!** ”

“I know, but, think about it, Ladybug!” Chat said, stepping closer to her.

“ **8!** ”

“You say that we should just forget about this night, and what we figured out about each other,” he said, stumbling over his words. “But you know we won’t just forget about it!”

“ **7!** ”

“You know we’ll both spend the rest of the time we’re in school wondering who the other is,” he said, and Marinette sighed, looking up at him.

“ **6!** ”

“What if something happens to either of us? What if us revealing our identities leads to everything going wrong?” Marinette asked desperately, almost gasping. “What then?”

“ **5!** ”

Chat cupped her cheek, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. “Then, we’ll figure it out together,” he said softly, smiling,

“ **4!** ”

“Cuz you and I are a team, milady,” he said, resting his forehead against her’s, and Marinette closed her eyes, sighing as she felt herself relax.

“ **3!** ”

“You damn alley cat,” she whispered, laughing quietly. And Chat laughed along, looking at her with such fondness that Marinette couldn’t help but laugh along.

“ **2!** ”

“Nice to hear you laugh again, milady,” he said softly, leaning back, reaching up to tug at his mask. Seeing the gesture made the panic grow in Marinette again, and she knew Chat had seen it in her eyes, because he grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently.

“ **1!** ”

“It’s okay, milady,” he said gently, smiling softly as he stepped further back. “I’ll go first.”

And he pulled off his mask, confirming Marinette’s guess.

“Hey there, Ladybug,” Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck, a nervous smile on his face.

Cheers, gasps and shouts ripped through the room as everyone began removing their masks, identities being revealed everywhere. Marinette gasped, a giggle escaping her lips as she looked at Adrien, Chat. Her partner. The one she had been fighting beside all this time. The boy she had fallen for, twice.

“It’s you,” she whispered, reaching out to trace Adrien’s cheek as she laughed. “I began questioning it today but, it’s actually you!”

“Only today?” He teased, and Marinette rolled her eyes, punching his shoulder lightly.

“Shut up, you tomcat,” she said quietly, her smile falling. Nervousness coursed through her, knowing that it was now or never. This was it. Chat, _Adrien_ , was going to know who she was.

Adrien smiled softly, cupping her face with both his hands. “May I, m’lady?” he asked gently, and Marinette just nodded slowly, all she could hear was her heartbeat.

Taking a deep breath, Adrien pulled off her mask, gasping when he removed it, eyes wide. Marinette blushed, looking down as she pushed her hair back shyly.

“Surprise,” she said quietly, glancing up to try and see Adrien’s reaction. She didn’t know what she was expecting. Shock, yes. But she hadn’t expected the pure, unadulterated joy on his face as he let out a loud laugh, holding her face, eyes gleaming.

“All this time?” he said, still laughing. “It’s been you all along?” he asked excitedly.

Marinette laughed along, his joy infectious. She felt a tear roll down her cheek as she nodded, nuzzling her face in his hand. “It’s been me all along,” she said, feeling like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders.

That was all the confirmation Adrien needed before letting out a loud laugh, pulling her into an embrace that lifted her off the ground. Marinette squealed as she felt herself being picked up, but couldn’t stop laughing, overjoyed as Adrien spun her around.

“Of course it’s you, it all makes sense!” Adrien exclaimed, still hugging her tight, no intention of ever wanting to let go. “How am I this lucky that the two most amazing girls I know are the same person!”

Marinette laughed, flicking the bell on his bowtie. “I’m the lucky one here, Chaton,” she said fondly, smiling up at him.

“Highly doubt it, Princess,” Adrien said, the name making Marinette giggle softly, seeing his face flush. “You’re not the one who fell for the same girl with and without the mask,” he said, his smile giving way to a nervous look, gulping as he tried to gauge her reaction.

Marinette staggered back a bit, lucky that Adrien still had a hold of her. _With and without the mask? Chat liked Marinette too? Adrien fell for her?! As Ladybug **and** Marinette? There was no way this could be real. No way. _

Adrien had, however, taken her silence in a completely different way, his face falling as he began to make his escape. “I, I’m sorry Marinette, that was too far. You’ve made your feelings clear, it’s just, I wanted to tell you. I, I’m so sorry, I ruined everything, I was being stupid and selfish,” Adrien mumbled, looking away, breathing shallow.

However, Adrien was cut off by Marinette grabbing his wrist and pulling him to her, crushing him in a hug. He was knocked back by the sudden force, but he melted into her embrace, breathing in deeply. _Vanilla_ , his brain hazily suggested. _Both of them always smelled of vanilla, it’s always been so obvious. All the signs have always pointed to Marinette._

“You never ruin anything, Adrien,” Marinette said firmly, her voice choked and muffled, her face still buried in his jacket. Adrien’s heart was racing, but he smiled softly, relief flooding his body. “You need to have more faith in yourself, Chaton,” she said gently, running her hands through his hair. Adrien laughed quietly, nodding against her head. But Marinette leaned back, a shy smile on her face that confused him. “But for all of your talk about how smart you are, you really are blind,” she teased. Adrien cocked his head to the side, confused.

Marinette giggled, reaching forward to tug him to her through his bowtie. “Because you would’ve realised that the boy I was talking about all that time, was you,” she whispered, her face red. “And you would’ve also noticed, how I was falling for you too, Chaton,” she said, her face falling, the memory of pushing her partner away resurfacing for a second. _She was an idiot._

Adrien’s eyes went wide, and he let out a gasp, unable to believe what he had just heard. “You- you fell for me too?” he whispered, tears threatening to fall. His smile had grown wider the more time passed, and the more he knew what Marinette had just said was real, it was _real._

And Marinette answered him in the only way that made sense.

She leaned up and kissed him, and he sank into it, all the pent-up emotions, misunderstandings, all the _time_ they had lost, it all led up to this. And both Marinette and Adrien knew, it was worth it.

*

“Well,” Nino said, still staring slack-jawed at Marinette and Adrien, who were kissing across the dance floor. Alya and he were about to go over to them, but there seemed to be a really emotional conversation going on, all leading up to _that._ “Did we miss something between them?” he asked, looking over at Alay, who had her camera open, clicking pictures as she smirked.

“Oh definitely,” she said, smiling at Nino, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. “And we will get it out of them eventually,” she said, putting her phone down to look at the two, who were now hugging, swaying slowly. “But right now, let them be together.”

“Yeah, it’s been a long time coming,” Nino said, smirking. “They won’t beat us for cute couple status though,” he said, wrapping an arm around Alya, kissing her temple.

Alya giggled, leaning up to press a kiss to Nino’s lips. “Absolutely not.”

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my first ever fic for miraculous ladybug so I'm really excited! hope you guys liked it, I may write more in the future if I get more time!  
> comments and kudos are really appreciated!  
> tumblr: @mqrinette  
> twitter: @selomaspades


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